Villa Serbelloni Rockefeller, Noble residence at Bellagio promontory, Italy.

Villa Serbelloni Rockefeller is a noble residence on the Bellagio promontory that overlooks Lake Como from a hillside setting. The property features formal gardens with geometrically trimmed evergreens and cypress rows, surrounded by dense woodlands and terraced grounds sloping toward the water.

The site held a castle destroyed by Galeazzo Visconti between 1365 and 1375. In 1486 Daniele Birago sold the peninsula to Marchesino Stanga, who built a palace completed in 1493. After a fire, Francesco Sfondrati bought the ruined villa in 1539 and rebuilt it. In 1788 it passed to Alessandro Serbelloni, who laid out 13 km of paths and a tunnel under the castle.

Since 1959 the villa has belonged to the Rockefeller Foundation, which runs it as the Bellagio Center. Scholars, scientists and artists from many countries stay there for residencies and conferences. The property is private and not open to the public; the gardens can only be visited on guided tours arranged in advance.

The grounds offer multiple walking paths through woodlands that provide views of both Lake Como branches from various vantage points. Wear comfortable footwear since the trails include steep sections and wind across the hilly terrain.

Ella Walker, later wife of Alexander von Thurn und Taxis, bought the villa in 1930 and lived there until 1959, when she left it to the Rockefeller Foundation. The foundation runs it as the Bellagio Center for science. The villa is not the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, which stands 400 metres away on the lakeshore.